Can A Villain Become A Hero?
by Bryan Dacote
Summary: After a fierce battle in the Water Temple Link spared Dark Link leaving the duplicate to contemplate his role and future. After Link's journey in Hyrule was over; Dark Link has left the Water Temple looking for answers however an evil force has come to destroy Hyrule leaving the shadow to defend Hyrule in Link's place. Takes Place between OoT & WW. DarkLinkXMalon
1. Chapter 1

"Can a Villain Become a Hero?"

Chapter 1

Link threw a couple bombs over the array of spikes that stood between him and a hungry Like Like. The first bomb exploded and the enemy moaned in pain, the second soon exploded and killed it. Link then targeted the wooden target that was before above the Like Like. Link fired his trusted hookshot and flew over the spikes and then softly landed on the other side. He gleefully smashed the pots next to the door in front of him and gathered supplies, when satisfied he walked through the door and stopped dead in his tracks to the scene before him. The new room couldn't even be described as a room. It was a vast expanse of nothingness, all there was shin-deep water and fog that went on for miles only broken by a small island with a small dead tree in the center of that island. There were two structures with doors; one that Link had entered through and one directly across him. He slowly walked across the "room" in silence, observing the strange room that contrasted with the rest of the temple. Within a few seconds he passed the lone island and felt a cold chill go down his spine but paid it no mind as he approached the opposite door to find it locked. Link grabbed at the bars trying to get them to move but to no avail, he turned to see if there was any chests or switches to remove the bars from the door but instead what he met was a pair of cold red eyes staring back at him from the lone tree, but it wasn't the eyes that struck a shiver down Link's spine it was whom the eyes belonged to: a complete and identical duplicate to himself. The clone however was a solid black from head to toe the only difference being the red round eyes. He wielded a dark duplicate to his Master Sword and Hylian shield. Link gulped as he approached.

"Who are you?" he asked the stranger. However the stranger said nothing as he walked towards Link with an identical pattern but with sword and shield drawn. "Not much of a talker?" Link asked as the dark reflection of himself stared back with deep blood-red eyes. "That's fine then." Link stated as he unsheathed his Master Sword and Hylian shield. Link began to slowly circle the clone and as he did the clone did so as well, the two keeping their eyes trained on each other, not flinching. Link decided to make the first move as he swung at the Master Sword in a horizontal slice, but to his surprise the clone did so as well in the exact same motion as Link did. The swords clashed as they withdrew, Link swung again and the move was deflected with an identical move. The two clashed at each other, Link trying various forms of swings however when he performed a stab the Dark figure dodged it with inhuman speed and jumped up on top of the blade of evil's bane. The clone then slashed at the original nearly taking off Link's head. Link withdrew his sword and backed off, completely shocked as to the speed and unreal movements of his opponent. _Okay, no stabs then._ Link thought as he then went back to clashing swords with his counterpart, however Link in time was able to make blows as did the clone the two trading blows and feeling cold metal dig into their flesh.

As the battle raged and they moved around the eerie room the body of the clone began to change from a solid black form to more of real person. The red orbs that stood for eyes actually became eyes if however with the same blood-red color. The skin became a ghostly pale, as brown boots showed themselves. The hair slowly turned to a light grey. The undergarments turned to a white much like Link's, however the tunic and hat remained a jet black. The blows Link had made to the clone showed as well revealing red blood oozing from the gashes.

The two's blows eventually put them into a sword lock, pushing on each other leaving the two identical faces of Link staring at each other. Link smiled however. "You're good. This without a doubt the hardest fight I've ever had thus far. But you never answered me: Who are you? You owe me that since you appear to be human." For a long moment Link suspected the clone was unable to speak however a familiar but deeper-toned voice came from the clone's mouth.

"I am you. I am Dark Link. I know all your moves and all your memories. I know your feelings. If you are to proceed to the next room you are to defeat me, other-wise you will never be deemed worthy enough as a hero." The dark counter-part said in a mono and unfeeling tone as the two then broke off from their lock.

"You are me, and you know everything there is to know about me, eh?" Link echoed. "If that is true then you should know how pointless I find this fight. If you know how I feel then you know how much I want to get out of this temple and save the sages, Zelda and stop Ganondorf. Why don't you let me pass?"  
Dark Link said nothing as he came back at Link – no longer just duplicating Link's actions like a mirror but attacking with his own will if however with the same identical movement as the original. Link parried the attacks, as Dark Link continued without end, trying not to give Link room in edge-wise. Link blocked the moves and fought back with equal if not more viciousness. Blows were made and new wounds made until the two had stopped attacking one another but instead faced each other, grimacing from the pain they felt in their bodies, both also trying to catch their breath.

"You know; 'Dark Link' isn't a very creative name." Link said with a smile and a tired chuckle however the clone merely raised an eyebrow to the original's statement. "I mean… I know you are supposed to be me but shouldn't you get your own name or something? I think 'Kuro' would be a great name for you provided you got out of this dreary temple and saw the outside world. The word 'kuro' means 'black' or 'dark' so why not?" Link continued trying to make conversation as the two caught their breath.

"Why do you insist on this talking? This is a battle. One that you must win if you are in order to complete your destiny." Dark Link asked as he began to recompose himself.

"Oh believe me; I'm not much of a talker. You know that since you are me after all. But I decided that maybe talking would be nice once in a while. I've been fighting nothing but monsters for weeks now and I don't have a lot of chances to talk to someone, and sometimes I can't help but wonder why all those monsters serve Ganondorf."

"I do not serve Ganondorf." Dark Link stated bluntly. "I serve the Goddesses. I am here to test your abilities as a hero—"

"I get your purpose but that doesn't mean I like it!" Link yelled cutting into Dark Link's statement. "If you serve the Goddesses and not Ganondorf then why don't they have you join me instead of fight me and try to kill me? Wouldn't it be better if we worked together? And even then; you seem to have your own will and opinions even if they are a copy of my own. Why not use that sentience for something good? Or are you evil?" Link asked in an angry tone. Dark Link did not answer for a long moment but instead looked down into the water at his feet. For a moment; he _did_ indeed ponder it. Why was it that he had to fight? He wasn't evil deep down. He knew how important it was to the original to save Hyrule and both of them knew that he already had what it takes to save this land.

"Look; if you really want to keep fighting till one of us falls then so be it. But I see potential in you. I don't see a monster behind those scary red eyes. I see another human being. I'd rather not kill another human being but if I must I will." Link stated as he finished recomposing himself and armed himself, however Dark Link said nothing but looked back at the original, however his eyes weren't full of the same determination that flared in them before. He had doubts now but Link was right; even if he couldn't make a decision now this fight had to end in order for Link to continue his journey so the dark counterpart armed himself and came rushing back at Link with a horizontal swing, but Link dodged it and slashed at Dark Link's chest causing more blood to ooze out, however the clone did not faultier from the wound as he spun on his heels and swung again at Link who actually didn't see it coming and got slashed in the side. The two traded more slashes and blows however Dark Link was faltering and Link was scoring more and more blows to the counterpart. In time Dark Link collapsed to one knee using his dark Master Sword as leverage so he need not collapse into sand of the lone island where he originally stood when this battle began. Link raised his blade to Dark Link's face as the clone then shifted his weight and fell back into the tree leaning against it supporting him instead of his sword. He only now noticed that the original held his Master Sword to the clone's face.

"It… is over. I can fight no longer. You…. may pass." Dark Link said weakly as the bars of the doors retracted. Link paid no heed to the now unlocked door that prevented him from moving forward, he did however lower his Master Sword. "What are you doing?" Dark Link asked in surprise to the lowered mystical weapon.

"You said I need only defeat you and you just told me I can pass."

"Yes I did indeed say that but why aren't you running me through? You said you would kill me."

"I lied." Link said with a smile. "I honestly can't kill you. You are not evil. I don't feel that you are evil now that I look at you more seriously. I'm sparing you."

"You are a fool. Look at me; even though you have yet to finish me off I will die."

"No you won't. I'm not letting you." Link said with a stern voice as he put away his sword and shield and instead took Dark Link's sword and threw it across the room along with his Hylian shield, as he then pulled out a small bottle holding a healing fairy. Link knelt down near his counterpart and uncorked the bottle but aiming the opening at Dark Link. The small pink fairy escaped from his prison and began to heal Dark Link and then Link himself making all their wounds vanish and heal. Link stood back up, put the cork back onto his bottle and walked away towards the door saying nothing more. He did look back at his counterpart who still lay next to the tree and smiled. "I hope you leave this temple one day. Hyrule is a beautiful country and even if you know it all through my memories I still think you should go see it for yourself with your own eyes… Kuro." Link said finally and with a chuckle as he opened the door and exited through leaving the Dark Link alone with new ideas and a new name for himself.

"Kuro…" Dark Link muttered to himself as he looked down at the water which slowly began to fade away also had briefly shown his own reflection. He looked at himself after the room turned back to a plain room that was identical to the rest of the dungeon. He too had not faded away as he imagined he would. "Kuro…" he muttered again. "So… that is my name now…?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A tall slender man stood looking at the massive flames that covered the land before him. People tried to run from the flames but huge monsters that had also infested the land struck down and devoured the survivors. In the center of the field was a town – it too engulfed in glorious flames as the center piece and pride of the town – a clock tower that could be seen all across the country crumbled as its support beams turned to cinders. The slender man smiled at the destruction; however his face was covered by a purple heart-shaped mask with thorns protruding from the sides. The man tried to hold himself back from laughing but he failed and laughed as the people of this land burned and died from the flames the man had caused. The Mask he wore was an accursed item from ancient times in the land that now burned. Normally when one wore this mask they became possessed by the evil spirit that resided within however the spirit had no power over the man for he was far older and in some ways far stronger than the mask. The accursed mask to him only ended up amplifying his already dark powers that lay dormant. Long ago the man used to have powers that rivaled gods but one day the three golden goddesses had sealed his powers away but not within a mask like what had been done to the spirit that lay within the mask. No, the powers of this man was put under a lock that only a god or very powerful deity could undo. If this lock was put on someone else he could undo the lock himself however without his powers he was nothing more but an immortal human which didn't help him since he never excelled at physical strength but rather magic. The Mask itself could not actually undo the lock on his magic but it could allow him to use some of it as well as the mask's power provided he was wearing it, however despite all this raw power he was nowhere close to being able to use his full power. With his true powers and the powers of this mask the country that now lay dying could have been nothing more than a crater within an instant.

The man smiled and hoped for the day he would soon regain his true abilities but that day would have to wait till he was able to release the incarnation of his master that was now imprisoned in the Sacred Realm in Hyrule. He had wormed his way into Castle Town as a Mask Salesman weeks before the incarnation of his master took over the land. He provided tips and information about the city, its people, their defenses and even more; information regarding the local legends about the Temple of Time that happened to be next door to his little shop. After his master took control of the city, its kingdom and even a portion of the Triforce that his master has longed for since ancient times – long before Hyrule was even founded by the people in the sky or even before the said people took to the heavens.  
Even though the reincarnation of his master was not as powerful as the original that was struck down by the Hero of the Sky the man actually still paled in comparison to his master's true powers however before his master could truly tap into his awesome powers he was sealed in the Sacred Realm by a new Hero whom was likely the Hero of the Sky reborn and what more it was the same child whom was the only one to ever enter his store before his master took over Hyrule. It angered the man to that such a small child could defeat his master. He tightened his grip as his face grimaced in anger. The sight before him eased him but now he had to now unleash this hell upon Hyrule instead of this land of Termina. He had burned this land to ashes to destroy all the evidence that he was ever here and where he had gotten the accursed mask; Majora's Mask.

He then turned and walked towards the swamp in the south, knowing that there was an alternate means of getting to Hyrule this way instead of the much quicker portal that was now buried in the ruins of the Clock Tower. The man reasoned that it would take him several months to a year to return to his next target; the land favored by the Goddesses; Hyrule.

***

It was only a few short weeks after Link and Dark Link's fight had concluded that Link – the Hero of Time had saved the rest of the sages and defeated Ganondorf. Even though Dark Link had not once stepped out of the room he was created in during those weeks he had discovered that even though he was physically separated from the original he still had a telepathic connection to him, Link was unaware of this connection but Dark Link could still feel and see the battles, pains, fears and an emotion that neither of them were familiar with yet; heart-break. But shortly after that moment when that sharp pain of heart-break hit Dark Link in the chest the pain and connection between him and the original stopped. Link – the original had been sent back to his own time by Princess Zelda so that he could regain the childhood he had lost due to getting wrapped up in these events. Link's pain of heart-break and confusion could have driven him insane but for some reason the pain didn't hurt as deeply to him as it did for the original. It was an odd experience to feel to both be hurt by someone you cared about but not all at the same time. But as much as he pondered upon why he felt the way he felt he also just imagined whatever his counterpart was feeling since he knew that Link really cared and possibly loved the Princess. He knew that she was his true driving force, for a moment he felt an emotion that was his own; envy. He envied Link that despite all the hardships his counterpart had endured and will endure his path was already chosen by the Goddesses where in contrast Dark Link's life was never determined or planned out. The only meaning to his birth was to be a test for the original and that test had been done. Was it even planned by the Goddesses that he would be given this chance to make a life of his own by his own free will? At that revelation he had noticed that the emotion of envy vanished when he realized that actually Link had given his clone something that Link would likely never have; free will and the ability to choose his own destiny that was not dictated by the Goddesses.

At that moment he heard one of the doors to his room opened. He turned around and saw a tall slender Zora woman – the Princess Ruto. The Zora Princess's eyes went wide as she then noticed the clone of Link sitting in the center of the empty room. She went into a defensive pose as he quickly jumped to his feet tempted to reach his sword on his back as she called out "Who are you?!" in an angry tone. Dark Link said nothing as he did not know what to say, and when he responded with silence she gritted her teeth and prepared for combat – suspecting that this clone was a monster that took Link's form. She took a step forward however an old male voice spoke to them as if he were in the room even though he clearly wasn't.

"Restrain yourself Water Sage Ruto. Do not attack this man." Said the old voice as Ruto stopped herself.

"Why should I? Who is he?" she asked the disembodied voice.

"I don't know exactly Ruto, but I suspect he is not an enemy. Bring him to the Chamber so we may look into this matter."

"Wait, the Chamber of Sages?! Are you crazy Rauru? We don't even know who or _what_ this dopple-ganger is!" Ruto protested in a loud yell.

"Fear not Ruto, even if this being is evil between the seven of us sages we can eliminate it if it becomes a threat." Rauru explained calmly.

"You crazy old man…" the Zora princess mumbled as she then looked at the dark counterpart to Link. "You are going to follow me!" she commanded to Dark Link. He was surprised by this turn of events but complied as he allowed Ruto to lead the way as they left his room and made their way through the confusing temple.

After about an hour they finally came to the door that the evil creature named Morpha resided in when this temple was under Ganondorf's control. Ruto commanded the door to open and the two walked though, the Zora princess walked up to the large hole in the floor and jumped down and landed on her feet with grace, Dark Link followed her as she led him up to a magical blue circle that sat in the center of the hole. "Follow me into this light; on the other side of this is the Chamber of Sages where we; the seven sages will determine your fate." She said, Dark Link nodded in understanding as she then stepped into the blue light. She slowly and gently was lifted up off the temple floor and encased in a blue gem which spun until she and the gem vanished in a flash of light. Dark Link followed suit and into the light, feeling his feet lift off the floor as the room began to spin around him, he closing his red eyes as he felt himself immediately leave the room he was in. He opened his eyes to find himself in a large black void, standing in the center of a round island that floated in this void. Dark Link recognized this room from Link's memories however instead of 6 emblems there was a 7th in the circle that surrounded the emblem of the Triforce. This 7th emblem was that of the Royal Family of Hyrule. He found himself in the room alone until suddenly 7 people appeared from nowhere on each emblem. Two were Hylian; one was Kokiri, one Goron, one Gerudo, one Shiekah and Princess Ruto. Dark Link recognized them all as the sages that Link had awakened. The old male Hylian that was in robes was Rauru – Sage of Light. The Kokiri girl was Saria – Sage of the Forest as well as Link's childhood friend. The Goron was Darunia – Sage of Fire as well as King of the Gorons. The before mentioned Zora; Ruto – the Sage of Water as well as Princess of the Zoras. The Shiekah woman was Impa – Sage of Shadow as well as Zelda's attendant and guardian. The Gerudo woman was Nabooru – Sage of Spirit as well as current leader of the Gerudo tribe. And lastly the Hylian woman was Princess Zelda – Sage of Time, leader of the Sages, and current ruler of the still recovering Hyrule. All 7 sages were here and all of them had concerned eyes trained on Dark Link.

"So we have gathered here to discuss this matter in regards to this being that has emerged within the depths of Ruto's Temple. As we can all obviously see; this being has a striking resemblance to the Hero of Time; Link. So I think we should get right down to it before we ultimately decide what should be done with you. Who are you and what is purpose?" Rauru asked sternly to Dark Link.

"I am Dark Link; I was created by the magic of the Water Temple to protect it from intruders whom dare take the temple's treasures as well as provide a true test of combat for the Hero of Time. I was not created by Ganondorf or by any other evil being."

"Ah yes, I remember of the room of the Water Temple where you were created." Stated Rauru as the other Sages looked at him.

"So you _do_ know who and what this 'Dark Link' is?" Ruto asked, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"I had honestly forgotten Princess. It has been many centuries since the 6 temples were constructed." He said as he stroked at his chin, then looking over to Princess Zelda. "Your Majesty, please inform the rest of us of the history of Hyrule as told by the Royal Family."

"Very Well." Zelda stated as she then cleared her throat. "I was told that many years ago after the 3 Goddesses – Din, Nayru and Farore – created the world and Hyrule the ancient Hylians had descended from the heavens from which they were born and settled in the land that would become Hyrule. Years after that the first generation of Sages built each of the 6 temples throughout Hyrule; the sage of his or her own element being responsible for the construction of their respective temple." Zelda explained to the group. Most of the group had listened intently since most of them were not aware of the origins of their beloved homeland however Rauru had mulled over Zelda's tale.

"It looks like the Royal Family has missed key parts of the early history of Hyrule…" he stated as he looked at Zelda. "your story was largely correct, Your Highness but it did miss parts of it; allow me to make the corrections: While it is indeed true that the first Hylians first descended upon the land that would become Hyrule, originally the people lived on the land – MANY years before Hyrule was ever founded, but a war broke out due to a great evil and the people had to flee to the heavens by a guardian goddess. Years later the people did return to the surface and Hyrule was founded. The part of us Sages building the temples was true however the part that the Royal family's history books got mixed up on was that the sages had to work together in order build each temple. We were instructed by the goddesses to infuse some of our race's magic into the temples either to act as defenses or as tests for a future hero that the Goddesses had predicted would arrive one day. Each race actually knew how to use magic even though most of them had forgotten how to." He then looked at Darunia, Ruto and Saria in particular. "In some cases we sages were instructed to try mixing and combing each of our race's unique magic to form specific puzzles or rooms. There was one room that the Shiekah and Zoras were instructed carefully to make. It would be a room that would be the ultimate form of defense to any intruder provided they delved deep enough into the temple. This room would change its appearance to suit the trespasser's soul as well as pit them against a clone of themselves that knew every technique and skill and was already mastered in them – in some ways more than the originals. This was done so that the person whom entered would have to best themselves on both the inside and out in order to proceed. However as I remember this room was designed that after the battle – whether the clone was successful in destroying the intruder or not – would turn back into a regular room along with the being inside. What doesn't make any sense is that when Link completed this task this copy remained. I am curious as to how this came to be." He said as he looked at Dark Link. Dark Link quickly got the point and began.

"I don't know what to tell you that would explain how I have come to be. I do harbor some memories of those who tried entering my room and me defeating them however the memories are like that of dreams – you can never truly remember the details however I still have all of Link's memories clearly – and still had a connection with him – feeling his feelings until he suddenly vanished from our timeline. But for what happened in our fight to explain it: well this was my first time ever being defeated by someone intruding into my room I knew that I should have disappeared as soon as Link left however during our fight I somehow felt a beat in my chest and real blood circulate through my veins as I had changed from a mere shadow to a real person. Also Link had not killed me – he felt that I was a real person and didn't suspect I was evil so he let me live as well as giving me a name for myself."

"A name?" Zelda echoed in surprise.

"What name?" Saria asked.

Dark Link looked at the two girls whom asked their questions. "Kuro."

"Kuro…" Saria echoed… as she pondered. "Kuro means 'black' in the Kokiri language." She stated as she looked at Dark Link up and down seeing why Link had given his counterpart the name for his black Kokiri clothes.

"A name is the means of which we all define ourselves as individuals. It might be that Link just giving this duplicate a formal name broke the binding on him to remain in the room forever as he was designed." Impa said as she too looked at Dark Link's red eyes. "However I am curious as to why you have such a Shiekah-like appearance." She stated also looking at his silver hair that was similar to her own.

"The Shiekah were the ones to help the Zora with the magic of illusions and shadow so it might be that the being that was spawned from the room would be given Shiekah-like qualities showing the connection to the Shiekah." Rauru stated. "However none of this actually determines if this Dark Link – or Kuro as he was called by Link – is evil even though he was spawned not from evil magic but by magic created by the sages. I propose we all take a democratic vote to determine if this Kuro should be allowed to exist. Is there any objects to this?" he asked the group who all agreed to take a vote. "I believe each of us has the right to ask and inquire into Kuro about his intentions or whatever other means they seem appropriate. Now who will go first?"

 _Author's Note: holy crap this was a long chapter to write – even longer to the fact that I had to rewrite about half of it because I realized I needed to expand upon this portion of the story more. Plus I wanted to make this chapter a doozy to show you all of the potential of this story and where it could go. I hope you all enjoy_


End file.
